THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT ABUJA DID NOT STOP EDSIEC FROM HOLDING THE COUNCIL POLLS ON SEPTEMBER 2ND 2023
By Amb. Tony Okonigene ANIVS
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has refused to grant an experte motion brought by the APC seeking to stop the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) from going ahead to conduct the Local Government polls slated for September 2nd 2023.
In a bench ruling on Friday , August 25, 2023, Justice Obiora A. Egwuatu, declined to grant the prayers of the applicants. The judge noted that;”I find myself unable to grant the reliefs sought- Experte. It will meet the interest of justice if the defendants are put on notice. The prayers are accordingly refused”. He therefore directed the applicants(APC) to put the defendants (EDSIEC & others ) on notice and adjourned the matter to the 6th of September, 2023.
The implication of the above ruling is that the matter has suffered a premature miscarriage. It is a settled point of law that a motion on notice cannot stand on it’s own as a stay of execution for a matter that can be remedied. The APC in an attempt to ambush the system, fell into a Bermuda Triangle. By the time they come back to court on the 6th of September, the motion will become obsolete. The action should have commenced by way of a motion when EDSEIC fixed the date of the election instead of waiting till the last minute to spring an ambush.
The Local Government councils polls have already been fixed and it affects the civil and fundamental rights of the generality of Edo people to choose those that govern them at the third tier of government. It cannot be stopped Experte. The court did not order the parties to maintain the status quo. The elections will definitely go on.
Saturday 26th August, 2023
